My major concern is the defensive backs and safety. M. Williams just did not impress me. On several long passes given up, he just did not react quick enough, i.e. touchdowns for the opposition. On some he was 5 yards behind the receiver.

Corner back is up in the air. If one or two of the injured that others have mention pan out, we will be much better. If available, I would like to see the Redskins take T.J. McDonald from USC. He is Tim McDonalds son and has been schooled by him. Tim McDonald was all-pro many times and was one of the better defensive backs in the NFL. T.J. is not rated that high but I think he will surprise everyone, i.e. Morris.

I am satisfied with our O-line but would like to see some depth. I think we could be fine with our current crop of wide receivers. They may not be the best but they were productive and provided some explosive and clutch plays. I hope Moss comes back and produces like he did. He had a reduced role but I think it made him better.

No worries at running back.

I have some concern about inside linebacker if Fletcher retires.

Like many, I have concerns about RGIII. He was the heart and sole of our offense. He just seems to take to many hits and chances. That is his game and he will probably be slow to change. The other mobile quarterbacks did not seem to take the same hits. I am OK with Cousins if RGIII gets hurt again. But then comes the question of Cousins back-up???

All in all, I have faith that the Redskins will improve again. They learned that they can win. The belief that they can win has been missing.

Skinsfan55 wrote:It's meaningless to list someone as "second round talent" when they went undrafted. That's like if I said "I was astronaut talent until I overslept and missed the calculus final!"

That's fine if that's how you want to think that way.

To the rest of the world, players are ranked and slotted. Pre-injury, he was a 1st/2nd round talent. Regardless if you want to

2012 NFL Draft: Players Who Will Make Late Surge into 1st Round

Senior cornerback Chase Minnifield provided the University of Virginia with 50 tackles, one and a half sacks, and three interceptions, including an interception against Duke which he ran back 54 yards for the touchdown.

Minnifield's solid defensive skills and his ability to excel in zone coverage was a key factor in his success this past season.

Minnifield plays the run extremely well, has excellent body control and is a proven tackler.

Invited to the NFL combine, expect Minnifield to show off his athletic ability and six foot frame to provide him with the chance to be selected in the first round.

It isn't illogical to hope that in 100% health, he'll be the same talent.

+1

Minnifield was a projected 2nd round talent. But, he had the dreaded microfracture surgery, so teams took him off their board, meaning that they are uncertain about his health. Talent wise, he's a top end guy, especially in the slot.

Taking a chance on an undrafted rookie makes sense, it's another to be so head over heals for an undrafted rookie (coming off a season where they were injured) that you think they could start for a playoff team.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here. Everyone is being so Pollyannish about Minnifield where I'm being measured and reasonable. He's an undrafted rookie, who was injured, has never played a down of pro football and he was actually projected as a 3rd or 4th round pick. (I have seen very few sources saying he was a second round talent.) ESPN.com had him as a middle round pick. Maybe 4-5.

In any case, if Minnifield beat all the odds and actually played significant time for the Redskins in 2013 it'd be HUGE news. It'd be an enormous success story that defied all logic. It's not like we have this amazing diamond in the rough and our front office had the vision to know that Minnifield is a future star while every other team didn't even think he was worth wasting a pick on.

FWIW, the Redskins were willing to cut bait with Minnifield. They were just going to let him go for nothing last year. We waived him since he couldn't play, he went on waivers, every other team in the NFL had another shot at him, no one signed him, so he went on IR for the Redskins.

Pining for him like he's going to start for us is, quite frankly, stupid. Not to mention unproductive.

"Guess [Ryan Kerrigan] really does have a good motor. And is relentless. And never quits on a play. And just keeps coming. And probably eats Wheaties and drinks Apple Pie smoothies and shaves with Valvoline." -Dan Steinberg DC Sports Bog

Nobody's going crazy about Minniefield but there's a better chance he's good than not

I think the coaches have a better handle on this than you do and I think they're a lot more in tune with what we need and what this player 'offers'

last season we all were BS about our O line - it did pretty good IMO DESPITE all of our dire predictions ...

let's give this FO AND our coaches a little credit - sure we have some issues but we're a playoff contender this season & we're winning the NFC East again

ALL of these players are VERY talented - we don't need the most talented - we need the best 'fit' for what we do as a team

P A T I E N C E - Snyder needs to just 'butt out' and give Scot time to figure out who he needs in the FO, who he needs as the HC and what players fit what he thinks is a good system for this franchise - it's a mess & it will take time

I would not rely on Minnifield. He’s coming off a microfracture knee surgery and then an ACL reconstruction. That’s brutal. The problem with microfractures is that, based on what I’ve researched, it increases the likelihood of more knee issues, which he’s already had.

Figuring on him contributing is probably the wrong way of looking at it. If he does end up contributing, it's a fantastic bonus.

Skinsfan55 wrote:Taking a chance on an undrafted rookie makes sense, it's another to be so head over heals for an undrafted rookie (coming off a season where they were injured) that you think they could start for a playoff team.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here. Everyone is being so Pollyannish about Minnifield where I'm being measured and reasonable. He's an undrafted rookie, who was injured, has never played a down of pro football and he was actually projected as a 3rd or 4th round pick. (I have seen very few sources saying he was a second round talent.) ESPN.com had him as a middle round pick. Maybe 4-5.

In any case, if Minnifield beat all the odds and actually played significant time for the Redskins in 2013 it'd be HUGE news. It'd be an enormous success story that defied all logic. It's not like we have this amazing diamond in the rough and our front office had the vision to know that Minnifield is a future star while every other team didn't even think he was worth wasting a pick on.

FWIW, the Redskins were willing to cut bait with Minnifield. They were just going to let him go for nothing last year. We waived him since he couldn't play, he went on waivers, every other team in the NFL had another shot at him, no one signed him, so he went on IR for the Redskins.

Pining for him like he's going to start for us is, quite frankly, stupid. Not to mention unproductive.

Who said he'd start? Who said he'd unseat Wilson or Hall? Nobody. You're just being sensitive and emotional because apparently you either don't know anything about Minnifield, or simply want to be cynical. Did you even watch this team? Richard Crawford played significant snaps at corner. He was a 6th round pick from SMU. A long shot. DJ Johnson was signed to the practice squad and played significant snaps on the active roster 8 days later.

The only thing stupid and unproductive is to assume that it would be earth shattering news to think that a guy like Minnifield would be curing cancer if he contributes on this defense. As mentioned before, it's a matter of health. Not talent. We shall see. But, the team opted to IR him instead of cutting ties altogether. So obviously they don't think it's a lost cause.

Last edited by The Hogster on Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

SkinsJock wrote:last season we all were BS about our O line - it did pretty good IMO DESPITE all of our dire predictions ...

How good were they really? Surely, Morris and RGIII had terrific seasons but Morris is a one cut back (exactly what we need with a patchwork offensive line) and RGIII is a scrambler. Just because we have these weapons doesn't mean we should feel free to ignore the line. LG and RT were big holes. Monty stepped up, Trent Williams had his best season and RG Chris Chester played decently. Pro football focus gives Williams and Monty huge marks (even says Monty is the 4th best center in the league!) and says Chester "played up to his contract." (Which they didn't really like at the time IIRC.) But they still ranked the Redskins as the 16th Oline in the league. Right in the middle.

There's obviously a lot of room to make improvements. RT is going to be a big need (and expensive to fill!). Sebastian Vollmer will most likely be re-signed and there's not a lot of RT's available in FA... and none on the roster. LeReibus might be able to take over at LG, but there's one big need right there.

Also, we could use some weapons on offense. Hankerson did not look good this year and there's some question on whether or not he will ever be a quality player. He could go either way (I'm still pulling for him, I love his physical tools.) Even if we ignore WR as a need, and maybe we should, we'd only be doing so because we're stuck in a financial crunch.

Thanks to this bogus penalty, the Redskins are $4 mil over cap, without really any "bad" contracts. Our only hope is that RGIII and the playoff run, combined with the outrage surrounding the penalty so infuriates the players that they agree to band together and fight. Young players will be asked to restructure, free agents will be asked to take backloaded deals, etc.

Still, it seems to me that this will be a really tough offseason. I would say our biggest needs are:

DB- Wilson is the only defensive back I like. Maybe Meriweather can come back strong, he looked good in limited action.

RT- It's a huge hole and really limits what we can do on offense.

ILB- Even if Fletch doesn't retire, we need a replacement.

And that assumes we work something out with Davis. I think he's a big piece of the puzzle.

"Guess [Ryan Kerrigan] really does have a good motor. And is relentless. And never quits on a play. And just keeps coming. And probably eats Wheaties and drinks Apple Pie smoothies and shaves with Valvoline." -Dan Steinberg DC Sports Bog

The Hogster wrote:Who said he'd start? Who said he'd unseat Wilson or Hall? Nobody.

"We have Chase that's coming back fresh this season. If he's as good as advertised, he's starting opposite of Josh."

*sigh*

"Guess [Ryan Kerrigan] really does have a good motor. And is relentless. And never quits on a play. And just keeps coming. And probably eats Wheaties and drinks Apple Pie smoothies and shaves with Valvoline." -Dan Steinberg DC Sports Bog

The Hogster wrote:Who said he'd start? Who said he'd unseat Wilson or Hall? Nobody.

"We have Chase that's coming back fresh this season. If he's as good as advertised, he's starting opposite of Josh."

*sigh*

You need to be clear who you're responding to. I didn't say that. And, as for the comment that you made responding to me, about the 2nd round news on Minnifield. A simple Google search of the terms "Chase Minnifield & Second Round" would give you the reports you claim don't exist.

I don't expect Minnifield to unseat D Hall, but I do expect him to challenge Crawford for the 3rd CB slot unless we draft a guy like Poyer, Amerson etc...in which case he and Crawford are battling for a 4th spot if at all. That's the point of depth, to have players who don't make your team who could play for another team. Minnifield is a guy who can play in the NFL. His issue is health.

SkinsJock wrote:last season we all were BS about our O line - it did pretty good IMO DESPITE all of our dire predictions ...

How good were they really? Surely, Morris and RGIII had terrific seasons but Morris is a one cut back (exactly what we need with a patchwork offensive line) and RGIII is a scrambler. Just because we have these weapons doesn't mean we should feel free to ignore the line. LG and RT were big holes. Monty stepped up, Trent Williams had his best season and RG Chris Chester played decently. Pro football focus gives Williams and Monty huge marks (even says Monty is the 4th best center in the league!) and says Chester "played up to his contract." (Which they didn't really like at the time IIRC.) But they still ranked the Redskins as the 16th Oline in the league. Right in the middle.

There's obviously a lot of room to make improvements. RT is going to be a big need (and expensive to fill!). Sebastian Vollmer will most likely be re-signed and there's not a lot of RT's available in FA... and none on the roster. LeReibus might be able to take over at LG, but there's one big need right there.

Also, we could use some weapons on offense. Hankerson did not look good this year and there's some question on whether or not he will ever be a quality player. He could go either way (I'm still pulling for him, I love his physical tools.) Even if we ignore WR as a need, and maybe we should, we'd only be doing so because we're stuck in a financial crunch.

Thanks to this bogus penalty, the Redskins are $4 mil over cap, without really any "bad" contracts. Our only hope is that RGIII and the playoff run, combined with the outrage surrounding the penalty so infuriates the players that they agree to band together and fight. Young players will be asked to restructure, free agents will be asked to take backloaded deals, etc.

Still, it seems to me that this will be a really tough offseason. I would say our biggest needs are:

DB- Wilson is the only defensive back I like. Maybe Meriweather can come back strong, he looked good in limited action.

RT- It's a huge hole and really limits what we can do on offense.

ILB- Even if Fletch doesn't retire, we need a replacement.

And that assumes we work something out with Davis. I think he's a big piece of the puzzle.

Geez I think we all know what our needs are - PLUS we need depth everywhere

Nobody is saying the O line doesn't need attention - I just pointed out it was NOT the disaster that some thought it would be

you seem to be V pessimistic ... all Hogster is pointing to is that we are not in as dire straights as you're making us out to be - NOT that we don't have issues

why not just accept that and try and discuss it positively

P A T I E N C E - Snyder needs to just 'butt out' and give Scot time to figure out who he needs in the FO, who he needs as the HC and what players fit what he thinks is a good system for this franchise - it's a mess & it will take time

I'm saying this is going to be a tough offseason because we have a lot of needs but no money under the cap and no first round pick.

Basically, we need a lot of things to go right in order to improve the roster. We need players to play ball and renegotiate their contracts and we need to be extremely judicious with draft picks and free agents.

There's a razor thin margin for error here.

"Guess [Ryan Kerrigan] really does have a good motor. And is relentless. And never quits on a play. And just keeps coming. And probably eats Wheaties and drinks Apple Pie smoothies and shaves with Valvoline." -Dan Steinberg DC Sports Bog

Skinsfan55 wrote:I'm saying this is going to be a tough offseason because we have a lot of needs but no money under the cap and no first round pick.

Basically, we need a lot of things to go right in order to improve the roster. We need players to play ball and renegotiate their contracts and we need to be extremely judicious with draft picks and free agents.

There's a razor thin margin for error here.

SMH

No Orakpo, No Tanard Jackson, No Fred Davis, No Merriweather, No Carriker, Only 1/2 season with Garcon = Still won NFC East

And, you say the margin for error is razor thin??

The team will be better simply by getting healthy & Not including the draft and cap maneuvering that is always done. Next offseason is even better.

People are acting like Tanard Jackson will be a huge help when he comes back. He was suspended indefinitely. He might not BE back. He's eligible for reinstatement at the end of August and I don't know if he'll be allowed to practice until then. So the best case scenario would be reinstatement at the beginning of September with no OTA's, offseason workouts etc.

"Guess [Ryan Kerrigan] really does have a good motor. And is relentless. And never quits on a play. And just keeps coming. And probably eats Wheaties and drinks Apple Pie smoothies and shaves with Valvoline." -Dan Steinberg DC Sports Bog